| St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church | |
| Country | United States of America |
|---|---|
| Denomination | Coptic Orthodox Church |
| Website | http://www.coloradocopts.org/ |
| Architecture | |
| Style | Coptic |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Archdiocese of North America, under the Pope of Alexandria |
| Division | The Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate |
| Clergy | |
| Bishop(s) | Pope Shenouda III |
| Priest(s) | Fr. Yacob Soliman |
St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church (Coptic: // transliteration: ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos ente fi.ethowab Markos) is one of the oldest Coptic Orthodox parishes that was established in North America.[1] It is one of over 200 Coptic Orthodox Churches in the US.[2][3]
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St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Church in Englewood, Colorado was founded as one of the first four Coptic Orthodox parishes in the United States[1] and was incorporated in December of 1971, with about 50 families at the time.[4] As Pope Shenouda III was enthroned as the Coptic Pope on November 14 of that same year, this was the first Coptic church that was founded under the papacy of Pope Shenouda, who is still the Pope as of yet.
Pope Cyril VI, Shenouda's predecessor, founded the first four churches in North America.[5] The first two parishes that were established in the US specifically were St. Mark's Church in Jersey City and St. Mark's Church in LA.[1]
The late Father Bishoy Kamel, who is widely known as a prominent Copt in the modern era, helped found the church in Denver during its early years.[6] As a matter of fact, Fr. Bishoy Kamel helped found St. Mark's Church in LA, as well as several other parishes and buildings throughout Egypt, the United States, Europe and Australia.[6]
The current building was consecrated in October 1989[4] by Pope Shenouda on his second visit (the first one being in 1977), the same year where the Pope visited every Coptic parish in the US and Canada.[7]
The church was served by more than one temporary priest over the years. Fr. Angelos Habib Boghdadi served the parish in its early years, as well as several other Coptic Churches throughout the States over many years. Fr. Boghdadi, however, is currently the priest of St. George Church in Tampa, Florida.[8] There were several priests afterwards[9] until Fr. Yacob Soliman eventually became permanent priest in 2004,[10] a position of which he holds as the incubant.
At this point, St. Mark's Church remains as the only Coptic church in Colorado[11] There are currently more than 100 Coptic families served by St. Mark's Church.[4]